Digital Borders

~ Clarissa

How come it doesn’t need actual borders between countries, then?

These people are full-on stupid. What’s the point of showing one’s country of origin on social media posts when “country” stops being a meaningful concept?

For days, we’ve been drowning in posts and articles about the dangers of people from other countries posting on social media. These are people who are in their countries. They aren’t committing autism fraud in Minnesota. They aren’t raping teenagers in Rome. They are in their countries. And they are the problem? Because they haven’t left?

Please observe how insistently we are led to believe that words are more important than actions. We are seriously discussing “digital borders” when the real ones, the ones that matter have been weakened into near insignificance.

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Published by Clarissa

14 thoughts on “Digital Borders”

  1. Yeah, I love how we instantly recognize that X accounts from India are a bad thing, but somehow infinite work visas from india are A-OK.

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    1. …hears Indian accent on telephone: instantly suspicious. Indian clerk at the motel or gas station: check for weird charges on credit card for 2 weeks after. etc.

      I do know Indian immigrants who are great people and have assimilated well. Almost universally Christians from Goa, who are basically their own weird and not particularly respected caste back in India.

      But I think we need to ask more often: if 90% of our experience with Indians (and Guyanians, and Somalis, etc) is *expectation of fraud*… why is that? Is it an accurate reflection of the originating culture? If so, do we want more of that in the US? If not, could we be more selective about who gets to immigrate?

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  2. The latest dispatch from the Vivek campaign: he has proposed lengthening the school day to 4 PM and eliminating summer vacation. His political instincts are so bad that many on the right thought it was an AI video made by the left to make Vivek look bad. But honestly, I couldn’t make Vivek look worse than he makes himself look even if it was my fulltime job.

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  3. You either do not understand what this is about or purposely move the focus to a false issue. This is about accounts pretending to be from one country but being operated from another country, e.g. MAGA accounts being operated from African, Asian or Eastern European countries, or about people pretending to be located in one country but living in another one, like some Ukrainian bloggers who push anti-Ukrainian narratives showing their country as “Europe”, or Spain.

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    1. Thank you for explaining the painfully obvious. The point I’m making – and please try to concentrate, hard as it might be – that people who pretend to be from another country do a lot less damage than waves of mass migration.

      “Narratives”, as you call them, are not nearly as important as you think they are. Reality is important.

      Please Google “Somali fraud Minnesota” before engaging in any further discussion of “narratives”.

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      1. Somalis can only dream of the fraud that orthodox jews commit.

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        1. Amazing.

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    2. While you’re at it, also google welfare fraud in orthodox jewish communities in new york. Makes somalis look like amateurs.

      Also google kiryas joel.

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  4. Yes, the source of immigrants matter, a reality ignored in most Western countries. It is long past time to state the obvious: that charity begins at home; we cannot afford to import the world’s problems; and that we must select immigrants that strengthen our nations both financially and culturally.

    1. Major Negative Fiscal Impact of Non-Western Immigrants • On average, non-Western immigrants impose a lifetime fiscal cost of €167,000 per person, compared to a €42,000 net benefit for Western immigrants. • Immigrants from asylum regions (e.g., the Horn of Africa, Middle East) impose particularly high costs, exceeding €300,000 per individual due to weak labor market integration, high welfare dependency, and significant costs associated with asylum reception and integration programs.
    2. Low Fiscal Contribution from Second Generation • While second-generation immigrants perform well in education compared to native Dutch children, their incomes and fiscal contributions remain significantly lower for similar levels of education. • This raises concerns about the long-term integration and economic participation of descendants of immigrants, suggesting persistent socio-economic barriers.
    3. High Cost of Asylum and Family Reunification Migration • Asylum seekers and family migrants, on average, incur the largest fiscal costs: • Asylum seekers cost the government €400,000 per person, including high upfront expenses for processing and integration (€53,700 per person for asylum reception alone). • Family migrants impose substantial long-term costs, with high benefit utilization and low economic contributions.
    4. Cultural and Regional Differences • Immigrants from regions culturally distant from the Netherlands (e.g., certain parts of Africa and the Middle East) tend to have weaker integration outcomes and higher fiscal costs. • This suggests that cultural distance plays a role in limiting labor market participation and economic self-sufficiency.
    5. Only 20% of Immigrants Are Net Contributors • The study finds that only 1 in 5 immigrants make a positive lifetime contribution to the public budget, highlighting a significant fiscal burden on the state. • This challenges the sustainability of current immigration levels, particularly given the Netherlands’ generous welfare system.
    6. High Dependency on Welfare • Non-Western immigrants, despite being overrepresented in working-age groups, contribute far less in taxes due to low incomes and employment rates. • They are significantly overrepresented in social assistance programs, with costs per capita exceeding those of native Dutch individuals by up to 648% in some cases.
    7. Generational Gaps Persist • The gaps in fiscal contributions between immigrants and native Dutch individuals are not limited to the first generation but persist into the second generation. • This undermines assumptions that integration will naturally improve over generations.
    8. Disparity in Labor Migration Benefits • Even among labor migrants, the fiscal benefit is not uniform: • Western labor migrants generally provide substantial fiscal benefits. • Labor migrants from Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Romania) impose a modest net fiscal burden due to lower wages and periods of unemployment benefits.
    9. Unsustainable Welfare System Impacts • The high cost of integrating and supporting non-Western immigrants raises concerns about the sustainability of the Netherlands’ welfare model, especially as immigration levels remain high.

    These findings highlight systemic challenges in the Netherlands’ immigration policy and integration efforts, with significant fiscal and socio-economic implications. A Euro is currently worth ~$1.16 American. I apologize for the size, the 2024 source refused to copy — possibly because I am an incompetent old phart ;-D

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    1. “non western” covers a lot of ground. I think I saw a similar Dutch study that found Japanese immigrants were a net positive.

      I’d love to see the breakdown on that for all the Asian countries: I’d guess that in addition to Japan, you might see break-even or net positive for Korean and Viet (with possibly a differential between the Catholics and everyone else) immigrants, possibly some of the others.

      -ethyl

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  5. eyhyl

    Yeah Kid, here’s Korean descendant that loves Britain and particular Scotland, because he realizes that the oatmeal savages largely invented the West — okay, that may be a tad hyperbolic ;-D

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